Bird bath or bee bath?
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (381760)
Rockingham, Australia
November 24, 2020 11:08pm CST
It seems our two birdbaths have become ‘bee baths’. Now that the weather is warming up, the bees are coming to the birdbaths in their dozens. The baths are filled automatically by our reticulation system. However, the one at the rear of the house regularly runs out of water.
The water runs into a bottle. The neck of the bottle is above the level of the water in the bath yet by the afternoon, the water has almost completely gone. We are watching carefully to see if the bath is leaking but it doesn’t appear to be. It’s doubtful that the bees could drink the bath dry but maybe there is more evaporating than we think.
Summer seems to be here with a vengeance now. So we’ll be sweltering in the sun while the northern hemisphere is shivering through their winter.
Thanks to Vince for the photo.
28 people like this
30 responses
@DaddyEvil (174208)
• United States
25 Nov 20
I'm sure the bees aren't drinking that much water... You might be surprised how quickly water evaporates, especially out in the open air. (I have a twenty gallon fish tank in my living room. Every week I have to add two gallons or more to refill it... )
5 people like this
@DaddyEvil (174208)
• United States
25 Nov 20
@JudyEv It used to surprise me with the amount that evaporated from my fish tanks, but the amount of moisture in the air in our house made it interesting... All my leather shoes and a leather coat mildewed really fast. I wasn't happy about that, but was happy about the heating bill being lower with the high humidity!
2 people like this
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Nov 20
@DaddyEvil I'm not keen on mildew. 
There is always an upside and downside to these things, isn't there?
There is always an upside and downside to these things, isn't there?2 people like this
@FourWalls (86575)
• United States
25 Nov 20
That is an incredible photo!!!!
And I'd guess heat and humidity is primarily to blame for the water loss.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (86575)
• United States
25 Nov 20
@JudyEv — maybe bees drink more than we think they do!
2 people like this
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Nov 20
@FourWalls I've written about it now. Apparently they cart it back to the hive and do a heap of trips each day.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
25 Nov 20
evaporation most likely, such's one'f the reasons our bird baths're merely decor here. love seein' all those bees there, so thanks to mr. vince 'n his careful eye. yes ma'am, i'd sure trade ya. much rather sweat'n freeze.
4 people like this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
25 Nov 20
@JudyEv reminds me 'f when i found out the fella 'bout 3/4 miles down the road 'd bees he'd brought from wheree'er he came from (one'f the northern states). walked out one day'n the entire pond 'twas near covered with bees! honey bees, very friendly (aka: land'n yer glasses 
). nobody's keepin' bees out'n these parts, but i suspect a few 'scaped (he sold 'em to someone'n 'nother county). not masses 's prior, but i still get 'em 'round the pond. they're quite fond 'f the hummers feeders 's well.
). nobody's keepin' bees out'n these parts, but i suspect a few 'scaped (he sold 'em to someone'n 'nother county). not masses 's prior, but i still get 'em 'round the pond. they're quite fond 'f the hummers feeders 's well.1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Nov 20
@crazyhorseladycx There are so many drinking here that I think it will put off the birds from coming in. It would be a feast for a bee-eater! 
1 person likes this
@allen0187 (59648)
• Philippines
25 Nov 20
Solid photo.
My money is on water evaporating. We tend to underestimate how hot it is out there.
2 people like this
@RebeccasFarm (91299)
• United States
25 Nov 20
What a lovely photo oh my Judy!!
1 person likes this
@Namelesss (3364)
• United States
25 Nov 20
Awesome photo. I know a hive of bees can drink more water than you might think but I think most is probably evaporation.
2 people like this
@oahuwriter (26773)
• United States
26 Nov 20
How interesting and hope it's safe? We in Hawaii have now our rainy season and wow it is raining hard on outer islands. Where I live it's mildly raining at night with cool breeze days,
very pleasant.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Nov 20
That's nice that the weather is so pleasant. It's gradually getting hotter here. Do you mean COVID-safe? Yes, we haven't had any new community cases for quite some time. The only ones are people coming in from overseas and they are in quarantine as soon as they land so we should be safe.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 Nov 20
@oahuwriter The bees would only be a threat if you disturbed them. You can get quite close to take photographs and they don't seem to mind.
Anyone coming into Australia has to quarantine for 14 days. And they have to pay for the medi-hotel, as they call it, themselves.
1 person likes this
@oahuwriter (26773)
• United States
28 Nov 20
@JudyEv
That's good. Tourism hit a bump
Because of surge now tourism back to 14 day quarantine again regardless if they tested negative for covid so says today's news. Are the bees any threat?
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
25 Nov 20
It is a beautiful photo. Last year we found a beehive in our shed..Fortunately the bees didn't enter the house.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
26 Nov 20
@JudyEv We have had more than one beehive. One year there was a beehive right in front of our door. That was worse than the shed. We don't really use the shed that much, but we use our frpnt door all the time.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Nov 20
@Porcospino I wouldn't be keen on that at all. Were you able to get someone to remove it?
1 person likes this
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
25 Nov 20
I've never seen bees at a birdbath. Vince did a good job capturing those bees.
I hope you find the reason for the water shortage in the other birdbath.
Yes, we're getting ready for winter here. It snowed yesterday, but the ground was too warm and nothing accumulated.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222222)
• United States
25 Nov 20
Interesting about the bees. We are going to have our first lake effect snow next week. Not looking forward to it. I hate winter! What is the coldest temperature that you get there?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Nov 20
@LindaOHio I'm pretty happy with the current situation. lol
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222222)
• United States
26 Nov 20
@JudyEv That's not too bad. We get some below 0 days. Not nice.
1 person likes this
@nawala123 (20871)
• Indonesia
26 Nov 20
@JudyEv we are in rainy season,but no rain for 4 days
1 person likes this
@GodServantme (1543)
•
26 Nov 20
I think winter is coming in Australia these December
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381760)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Nov 20
No, it is summer in December, January and February. We are the opposite of the northern hemisphere.
